November is the one month of the year which highlights being thankful. Today I am thankful for:
1) Ray's driver's license! Yes, back in October Ray was finally approved for a driver's license. Not only has this given Ray a sense of freedom, but it has freed me up because I no longer plan my days around how I am going to get Ray to and from places. This has been a battle for many years and the day of Ray's road test was no exception. On that day Ray was told that he didn't have the proper paperwork (no one had told him about this 1 particular paper). As only God could, he orchestrated the way so that Ray was able to obtain this paperwork by the time needed. The people giving the road test were very surprised!
2) God providing the energy and stamina that I need in order to do my job well. The school that I work at has gone through a major transition between leadership as well as moving part of the school to another location. This is resulting in chaos, with many teachers leaving - either of their own will or because they were forced to leave. There seems to be a lack of discipline and one of the leaders of the middle school (where I'm at) is particularly critical of staff. In general there is a darkness over the school which is both depressing and unhealthy. In the past I would have given in, and believe me I still have those days, but the other day a teacher came up to me and said "Thank you for being a light in this darkness with your encouraging words." In my natural state I cannot be this light. It is only by the power of God in me that I am capable of being this light at this time.
3) Being able to handle a negative conversation without falling apart. The other day I had a meeting with one of my immediate supervisors. During this meeting I brought up my concern about the various discipline issues I'm seeing throughout the school. For example, there are many students roaming the hall, there are students drawing up petitions to have certain teachers fired, there are students stealing from teachers, etc. Instead of my supervisor addressing my concern she said to me that I am seeing this because classroom management has been, and continues to be, a weakness of mine. This shocked me and I told my supervisor this, however, she continued to place the blame back on me in a very condescending tone. With God's help I managed to stay very calm and reiterate that I was just noticing an observation. At the end of the conversation I was able to say to my supervisor "I'm not sure if you're aware, but when you are providing constructive criticism you do so with a condescending tone, which I don't appreciate." My supervisor did apologize for the fact that I felt that way (not quite a true apology), however, I felt better expressing myself to her. I was furious the rest of the day and when I went home I vented to Ray and then found my previous evaluations. Two of these evaluations praised my use of verbal and nonverbal classroom management. None of my evaluations showed that classroom management was my weakness.
4) Having weekends where I can relax. I believe this is the first year of teaching at this particular school where I am not taking classes and working like crazy. Yes, I still work on projects during the weekend, not but with the same frantic intensity that I used to. This is resulting in allowing me more time to clean the house, contributing to my sense of calm and peace.
